Ace Pilot and Space Pirate: Joining Forces
Chapter 2. Vulpine Hustle. It was the pride and joy of the two space pirates Nick and Finnick, waiting in the hangar. The two had used it to rob Andross´ ships during the days of his reign, and give the goods there to the poorer inhabitants of Katina. The two foxes were escorting Krystal towards the shuttle in the hangar near the bar. The vixen tried to look behind her to see if they were still followed. “Vulpine Hustle. The only thing older and trustier than my blaster. Second only to Finnick, of course”, Nick said. “But won´t this draw attention? It´s quite big for an escape ship”, the vixen princess thought. “Nah, you´ll be in Corneria faster than you can say “do a barrel roll”. What could possibly go wrong?” Finnick thought as the trio entered the ship. Suddenly, Venomian ape soldiers were seen in the hangar. “There they are! Get them!” one of them shouted. “It´s an ambush!” Nick noticed and started shooting them back. But these troops were not the only parts of the Venom army there. Several fighters had arrived in the planet´s atmosphere. “Geez, Bellwether surely wants the princess at all costs, doesn´t she?” Finnick said. “We must escape. I need to make an emergency call to the Cornerian Security Force here”, Nick went to the control panel of his ship. Even though he was an outlaw, he was still in good enough terms with Cornerian forces to get help from them, especially in matters like this. “Invader alert! Venomian fighters here in downtown! We require assistance, the town must be evacuate!” Nick said to a communicator. “We´re on our way! Husky unit, make way for escapees!” Bill Grey´s voice answered. Cornerian fighters engaged in a battle with Venomian forces. Amidst all the crossfire, Vulpine Hustle managed to escape into space. Trouble wasn´t over yet, though. Several fighters followed them, and were soon overwhelming them. “They´re coming onto as! Take them out!” Nick said to Finnick on the gunner seat. “I can´t, there are too many of them!” Finnick said as they were being surrounded. The ship began taking damage. The situation looked hopeless. Suddenly, Great Fox II arrived to the scene. The big ship noticed the smaller one in trouble. An Arwing flew from inside the ship, and started firing on the enemy fighters. It didn´t take long until the battered and bruised pirate ship was safe. “Look at that Arwing! It saved us!” Krystal pointed out. “Whoever is flying that must be one hell of a pilot”, Nick said. The Arwing led them towards Great Fox II, which activated a tractor beam. “They´re taking us in! I thought it was our job to do that as pirates!” Finnick was afraid. “Calm down, they just saved us”, Krystal said as they were led into the docking bay of Great Fox II along with the Arwing. “Look at that. Three foxes in a henhouse”, Gazelle joked as the Valkyries of Corneria noticed them. Judy rose from the Arwing, and removed her helmet. “Thank you for saving us, little bunny. You´re a Star Fox team member, aren´t you?” Nick went to thank his savior. “No, I´m not. I´m Captain Judy Hopps, leader of Valkyries of Corneria. Pleased to meet you”, she shook paws with him. “I´m Nick Wilde and this is my co-pilot Finnick”, the fox introduced himself. “So what are you guys doing here in the space, with Venomian fighters behind you?” Judy had been curious about that ever since she saw his ship escape the fighters. It was one of her first dogfights against the forces of evil too. “A top secret mission. I can tell this to you only if you promise not to tell anyone”, Nick was earnest. “I promise. I guess this has something to do with that blue poodle friend of yours?” Judy noticed Krystal. “Hey!” she snapped. “We need to escort her to Corneria. She is the Princess of Cerinia, Krystal. Bellwether´s forces are after her because of an artifact”, Nick told. “A Krazoa spirit. Incredibly dangerous in wrong paws”, Krystal showed a stone where the spirit was hidden. Judy was amazed. An another brave group of warriors was on a mission to protect the galaxy, just like her. “We also need help. The Star Fox team has gone missing, and Corneria is helpless without them. We are on a journey to save our friends, and could always use your help”, the rabbit told. Nick considered this for a second. “Hmmm…we can always provide a helping paw, if you provide a safe place for us to stay in here. We need to protect Krystal at all costs”, he said. “Deal. Ain´t no place safer than Great Fox II”, Fay said. “I´ll repair that hunk of junk while you can join us on the deck!” Fru Fru went to fix Vulpine Hustle. As Nick followed Judy to the deck, he couldn´t help but admire her. He saw a lot of bravery and determination in her that was very similar to his. A worthy ally to have on his side…and maybe something more. Meanwhile, Star Fox had arrived on Fortuna. Somewhere in this green planet was the source of Vixy´s distress signal, and Fox was determined to find it. “That should be the direction. ROB, show the coordinates”, Fox said from his Arwing. Suddenly, trouble came in familiar form. Three Wolfen arrived to the scene, ready to attack Fox. “Fox…we meet again!” Wolf´s voice was heard from there. “Star Wolf!” Falco was shocked to see them there. “We may have lost our leader Andross, but we´re still having one great payback time tonight!” Leon said from the other Wolfen. They had been following Star Fox for quite some time. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Panther, and those who see my rose meet death!” the newest member of the team said. He had joined Star Wolf ever since Pigma and Andrew had been kicked out for their untrustworthiness and incompetence. “Nothing like a good fight again, slimeball!” Falco started firing on Leon as the dogfight began. “Annoying bird! I´m the Great Leon!” the lizard snapped. Once again, Star Wolf was no match for Star Fox, even with Panther new on their ranks. “Not again!” Wolf snapped as the battered Wolfen left the scenery. “Some things never change, Wolf”, Fox smiled. Fighting the wolf was like a routine to him. After the battle, Fox and his friends arrived at the location of the signal. It was in a rusty bunker. Fox landed his Arwing, and went inside to look out for Vixy. Nobody was there. “Hello? Mom?” Fox wondered why she had gone missing. Suddenly, he noticed a small hologram projector. It looked same as the projectors James McCloud used. He activated it, revealing a hologram of Vixy Reinard. Still beautiful despite being middle-aged and wearing old-fashioned pilot gear, the vixen started to talk. “This message is intended for my son, Fox McCloud. Son, I had to get moving after recording this. I never got killed by Andross, just imprisoned. After many years, I managed to escape captivity and discovered a dangerous secret that could spell doom for Corneria even after his death. I´m on a run because they might discover and destroy me like they did to your father. If you are watching this, I´m currently now at my hideout in Fichina. Here are the coordinates, and good luck. Hopefully we´ll meet soon, my son”, the message played out. Fox was shocked. His mother had been through a lot like he had, and just after finding her, Corneria was in peril again. “Is everything all right, Fox?” Peppy asked from the communicator. “Peppy…get the ship ready. We´re heading for Fichina”, Fox said. “Fichina?” the old hare asked. “Something important is waiting for us there”, Fox said. Little did they know that Bellwether´s spy Weaselton had found his way to this planet too, and had listened to everything. Pulling out his communicator, he began talking to the hologram of the sheep. “The fugitive is his mother, Doctor. Not the Princess, the one who escaped before she did”, he spoke. “Vixy! The one who stole the plans of our hideout! If they discover them, our operation will fail. Make sure neither them or the Princess never reach Corneria. We can´t afford to lose!” Bellwether ordered. “But I failed once, ma`am. I can´t find Krystal and Star Fox all by myself!” Duke said. “Then find somebody who will assist you. Stop wasting my time”, Bellwether ended the transmission. Suddenly, Duke noticed the recently defeated Star Wolf team on a local campsite, refueling their Wolfen. Smiling wickedly, he went to the team. “Greetings, my fellow mercenaries”, the shady weasel said. “What do you want, skulking around like that?” Wolf asked. “Nothing, I was just wondering whether you´d like to earn a handsome little reward”, Duke mentioned. “Please, no more serving under Andross. I´ve had enough of that”, Wolf murmured. “Oh, it´s nothing like that. But you can get your payback at Star Fox, if you listen to my proposition”, Duke lied. Wolf got interested. “Well…state your offer then”, he said. The minion of Bellwether was going to get dangerous allies on his side. Category:Ace Pilot AU Category:Star Fox crossovers Category:Stories not in the Zootopia universe